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Putin & Russia

Not really. They lose crimea they are fudged. The west could cut off their trade to the rest of the world. No access to the med or suez canal, so the gulf asia africa etc... unless they go overland. Their black sea fleet is based there.

The russian ambassador to the uk said years ago. If ukraine were to join nato and russia lose hold of crimea they'd push the button. Just as america threatened with cuba.
Or another way to look at it is they are fudged because their federal revenues are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and the dwindling demand for them. They are fudged because the vast tracks of land they have are not suitable for agriculture and their government has not prepared the country for anything else. The country was broken up and sold for parts years ago to oligarchs is why they are fudged.

The West could cripple the Russian economy now if they so chose, but why would they? What is happening now is nothing more than the result of a fearful old man whose imperial ambitions to rebuild the Soviet Union will never be satisfied.
 
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Or another way to look at it is they are fudged because their federal revenues are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and the dwindling demand for them. They are fudged because the vast tracks of land they have are not suitable for agriculture and their government has not prepared the country for anything else. The country was broken up and sold for parts years ago to oligarchs is why they are fudged.

The West could cripple the Russian economy now if they so chose, but why would they? What is happening now is nothing more than the result of a fearful old man whose imperial ambitions will never satisfy his desires, that is to rebuild the USSR.

Possibly. But we are looking at it from a very western perspective and narative.

Putin is not an absolute ruler in russia. There are other powers in russia he has to keep on side. If he doesn't or loses power, he will be dead.
 
Possibly. But we are looking at it from a very western perspective and narative.

Putin is not an absolute ruler in russia. There are other powers in russia he has to keep on side. If he doesn't or loses power, he will be dead.
Semion Mogilevich for one.
 
Maybe not initially, but could be an iraq/afghanistan situation. Endless fighting.

Doubt they'd want to take the whole of ukraine. The areas they will have some russian support.

It will be ugly.

Exactly. If anything happens, it will be Donbas and no more.
The rest of the troop positioning is chess, if Ukraine moves to retake Donbas then these would move in. The mere threat of that is meant to hold the Ukrainian troops back from retaking Donbas.

But, I have serious doubts that Putin will actually do this. This is a lot of posturing to try and get what Russia wants.

The EU's stance of rushing to the aid of a non-EU member, and bolstering other Eastern EU nations, is more of an antagonistic posture to Russia than trying to get them to step back. Germany has the right idea, there is more need for talks than anything else.
 
The West could cripple the Russian economy now if they so chose, but why would they? What is happening now is nothing more than the result of a fearful old man whose imperial ambitions to rebuild the Soviet Union will never be satisfied.

What, by removing their access from SWIFT?
The US and Germany would never let that happen, aside from Russia they would stand to lose the most as well from such a choice. Not to mention others that trade via the system with Russia too.

Putin doesn't want a new USSR, this is just bs peddled by lazy assholes. It is an impossible option, restore the USSR - please...
He is reacting to the West meddling in former Soviet republics and more than anything else, he wants to ensure the security of his borders. Maybe deep down he wants to enforce relations with the old Soviet republics so that he can maintain a presence of global superiority but I'm not him. But bringing, or wanting to bring back, the USSR - nah, give the guy some credit, he isn't that stupid.
 
What, by removing their access from SWIFT?
The US and Germany would never let that happen, aside from Russia they would stand to lose the most as well from such a choice. Not to mention others that trade via the system with Russia too.

Putin doesn't want a new USSR, this is just bs peddled by lazy assholes. It is an impossible option, restore the USSR - please...
He is reacting to the West meddling in former Soviet republics and more than anything else, he wants to ensure the security of his borders. Maybe deep down he wants to enforce relations with the old Soviet republics so that he can maintain a presence of global superiority but I'm not him. But bringing, or wanting to bring back, the USSR - nah, give the guy some credit, he isn't that stupid.
Lazy assholes? Nice.
 
What, by removing their access from SWIFT?
The US and Germany would never let that happen, aside from Russia they would stand to lose the most as well from such a choice. Not to mention others that trade via the system with Russia too.

Putin doesn't want a new USSR, this is just bs peddled by lazy assholes. It is an impossible option, restore the USSR - please...
He is reacting to the West meddling in former Soviet republics and more than anything else, he wants to ensure the security of his borders. Maybe deep down he wants to enforce relations with the old Soviet republics so that he can maintain a presence of global superiority but I'm not him. But bringing, or wanting to bring back, the USSR - nah, give the guy some credit, he isn't that stupid.
What threat is a mutual defence treaty to Russia if they're not planning on invading?
 
What threat is a mutual defence treaty to Russia if they're not planning on invading?

Really? Given the history of Russia and the West, what followed after the collapse of the USSR and of course the prior invasions of Russia that have taken place throughout history? But you can't understand their viewpoint?

NATO incorporating the Baltic states suddenly puts them bang on the borders.
NATO membership, going back several years now, was meant to have been offered to Ukraine (a move by the US iirc) but other members at the time disagreed with this.
Forward to today, fast-track membership isn't beyond the imagination of possibilities give how the West has been lifting its skirt towards Kyiv and if such a thing was to happen then that is a massive landmass suddenly removed from the equation for any potential threat to strike from. I'm no history buff, but I think I remember enough to say that most invasions of Russia took place through South Eastern Europe which is why they have so much concerns.

IF they invaded Donbas then at the very least they would have a small buffer protecting their Caspian sea dependencies, it is why they took action on Crimea when they did - protecting assets - and it is the lack of action from the West when they annexed Crimea that has emboldened them to position for Donbas. This time they are seeing a different reaction and I truly hope diplomacy wins out and we don't force their hand anymore by providing munitions etc to a non-member of said mutual defence treaty.

Imagine, Russia formed a military alliance with say Canada and South America - I wonder how the US would perceive that :)
They, like any superpower (fading or not), would be protective of potential threats to its homeland.

As I have maintained, I don't believe they will invade - it is just a rather big game of chess.
 
What's the deal with NATO membership?

Is it a pay your fees and in like a gym or is it recommended by letter from 2 members of regard/third generation family membership like a club?

Surely the fastest and simplest way to end all of this is just to admit Ukraine as a member of NATO and then Putin can't invade them?
 

That’s pretty funny. Russia are just playing games making us look stupid. And they’ve achieved it. Not just with Truss not know a key region and city within Russia, but by funding Brexit via Aaron Banks and playing some part in Trumps election too. What a devastating way to hit back at the US and EU for meddling in their back yard.

Yes Russia is an empire and Ukraine and the former Soviet states should be sovereign, but these Russian speaking nations had huge ties to Russia both historic and economic. The US and NATO actively pulled these nations away from Russia toward the west, and it would annoy them. It would be like Russia trying to pull Ireland or France away from strong ties with the UK. How did Russia react? By seeding an imbecile in the Whitehouse and disrupting the EU economy by funding the leave campaign, (which led to an imbecile in No 10). The big game continues and Russia will leverage having the direct pipe line to the EU opened.
 
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I'd not realised that we'd sunk so low in the UK that the Minister for Cheese Propaganda had been over promoted to such a lofty position. Frightening.

Haven't we got some more painfully desperate Thatcheresque photoshoots we can send her on, to keep her out of the way of the important stuff?
 
That’s pretty funny. Russia are just playing games making us look stupid. And they’ve achieved it. Not just with Truss not know a key region and city within Russia, but by funding Brexit via Aaron Banks and playing some part in Trumps election too. What a devastating way to hit back at the US and EU for meddling in their back yard.

Yes Russia is an empire and Ukraine and the former Soviet states should be sovereign, but these Russian speaking nations had huge ties to Russia both historic and economic. The US and NATO actively pulled these nations away from Russia toward the west, and it would annoy them. It would be like Russia trying to pull Ireland or France away from strong ties with the UK. How did Russia react? By seeding an imbecile in the Whitehouse and disrupting the EU economy by funding the leave campaign. The big game continues and Russia will leverage having the direct pipe line to the EU opened.
Outside your echo chamber, Banks has received a number of apologies from the "journalist" who made those claims having no evidence to back them up. He's also likely to win a defamation case too.

Speaking as an English person I can tell you categorically that I couldn't give less of a fudge if countries such as France or Ireland decided to align with Russia because they're none of our business.

As stated previously, the best and fastest way to end all of this is to sign Ukraine up to NATO immediately. Then Putin can't fudge around having a dingdong swinging contest with them.
 
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Outside your echo chamber, Banks has received a number of apologies from the "journalist" who made those claims having no evidence to back them up. He's also likely to win a defamation case too.

Speaking as an English person I can tell you categorically that I couldn't give less of a fudge if countries such as France or Ireland decided to align with Russia because they're none of our business.

As stated previously, the best and fastest way to end all of this is to sign Ukraine up to NATO immediately. Then Putin can't fudge around having a dingdong swinging contest with them.

Everyone knows Banks funded Brexit via offshore funds which are almost certainly from Russia. The circumstantial evidence is clear, even if webs of offshore companies makes it impossible to trace in any above board way. Speak to any intelligence people off record and it’s an accepted known.

Never mind the emails offering Banks stakes in Russian gold mines for free, meetings with Russian officials, his Russian wife who’s got links to Russian secret services…forget all that. Bank has never made enough money to cover his total donations to the leave campaign! The companies he’s sold do not amount to the millions he donated :) A relative pauper by political donation standards, he remains the largest political donor ever in the UK. Even billionaires don’t squander the sums he did.

The west doesn’t want to add Ukraine to NATO because they don’t really wish to be drawn into Russias backyard. And it might to the opposit of ending things. It could enflame the situation. While the right wing in the US love to play the old anti-commie games funding separatist anti-russian factions in Ukraine, the EU and most in America realise it’s best not to poke the bear. Adding Ukraine to nato would complicate matters and potentially cause further division. The reality is the east of Ukraine is already Russian. The people were always largely ethnically russian. And now they are supported by the russian state accessing better paid russian pensions etc. If you tear all of Ukraine away from Russia you risk enflaming a civil war and division based on ethnic lines.
 
Everyone knows Banks funded Brexit via offshore funds which are almost certainly from Russia. The circumstantial evidence is clear, even if webs of offshore companies makes it impossible to trace in any above board way. Speak to any intelligence people off record and it’s an accepted known.

Never mind the emails offering Banks stakes in Russian gold mines for free, meetings with Russian officials, his Russian wife who’s got links to Russian secret services…forget all that. Bank has never made enough money to cover his total donations to the leave campaign! The companies he’s sold do not amount to the millions he donated :) A relative pauper by political donation standards, he remains the largest political donor ever in the UK. Even billionaires don’t squander the sums he did.

The west doesn’t want to add Ukraine to NATO because they don’t really wish to be drawn into Russias backyard. And it might to the opposit of ending things. It could enflame the situation. While the right wing in the US love to play the old anti-commie games funding separatist anti-russian factions in Ukraine, the EU and most in America realise it’s best not to poke the bear. Adding Ukraine to nato would complicate matters and potentially cause further division. The reality is the east of Ukraine is already Russian. The people were always largely ethnically russian. And now they are supported by the russian state accessing better paid russian pensions etc. If you tear all of Ukraine away from Russia you risk enflaming a civil war and division based on ethnic lines.

You sound overwhelmingly positive about Russian influence. How do you feel about the Political stance taken by the US over Brexit?
 
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